Tupac Shakur’s presence was felt during Dr. Dre and co.’s Super Bowl LVI Pepsi Halftime Show on Sunday (February 13) — not via a hologram, as rumors suggested, but through Dre and Snoop Dogg‘s performance of “California Love” and the Aftermath founder’s brief piano rendition of “I Ain’t Mad At Cha,” during which Eminem took a knee.
Slim Shady kept the 2Pac tribute going during his Los Angeles visit earlier this week by visiting Wake Me When I’m Free, a museum experience at L.A. Live dedicated to the late rap icon.
What’s more, Eminem dipped into his extensive collection of classic Hip Hop merch and wore a 2Pacalaypse Now t-shirt saluting Pac’s 1991 debut album.
Created in collaboration with Tupac Shakur’s estate, Wake Me When I’m Free explores the life and legacy of the legendary rapper/activist through contemporary art, sensory technology and never-before-seen artifacts from Pac’s personal archives.
The exhibition “delve[s] into the greater meaning of his activism, music, and revolutionary art through a labyrinth of emotions, as they take this journey through his extraordinary life,” according to the official website.
Eminem Crowns 2Pac As The Greatest Songwriter Of All Time
“We wanted to create a memorable experience that will inspire you to be better than when you walked in, all while leaving you with the knowledge that he was a true revolutionary spirit,” said Creative Director Jeremy Hodges.
Wake Me When I’m Free opened on January 21 and has also been visited by the NBA’s Portland Trailblazers.
Eminem has made no secret of his admiration for 2Pac in the past. During his Shade45 radio show special Music To Be Quarantined By in 2020, the Detroit native hailed the late Death Row legend as “the greatest songwriter of all-time.”
“Debate what you want about MC skills and all that, because he had that, too,” he said while introducing “If I Die Tonight” from 2Pac’s 1995 album Me Against the World. “This is one of them songs by 2Pac that, to me, he was showing you, ‘I can write heartfelt shit and I can write lyrical, crazy shit, too.’
“You can’t just listen to Pac, you feel Pac. If you listen to him, you gonna feel him.”
Eminem even penned a hand-written letter to 2Pac’s mother Afeni Shakur, in which he told her, “You have no idea how much your son and his music has inspired, not only the ‘Hip Hop’ world, but, speaking for myself, has inspired my whole career.
“He gave me the courage to stand up and say ‘F**k the world! This is who I am! And if you don’t like it, go f**k yourself!'”
Of course, the rap legends also collaborated posthumously, with Eminem producing 2Pac’s 2004 album Loyal to the Game alongside Luis Resto, as well as several cuts on the 2002 Tupac: Resurrection soundtrack.
Em shud just put dem purple pills down for once n kiss King Tekashi ring coz he n Pac got da most in common even tho he from da East Coast. If he do, he’ll learn to reckonize a real G wen he see one.
U r a piece of garbage
Fuk 69
Too bad pac died at 25 since he was a hidden gay rapper who never had the chance to came out off the closet… smh
He wuznt gay u fukn clown,!!!
Curtis wasn’t even a seaman spore in 96 but knows the real about Pac and all his secrets. Makes perfect sense to me.
You are nothing but an asshole Curtis, referring to the late great as a closet gay rapper…….. mehn your entire generation can never achieve what pac achieved in a lifetime muh’ fucker…. Go get a life.
So you’ve been gay all these while?
You’re are just tryna expose yourself as a gay, mind you Tupac is never a gay, but you’re simply a gay.go to hell fool.
more white rappers.
you’ll learn more thir no white people the pigment actual taner then pale in most causes im right
It so unfortunately you opened your mouth speal about Pac that way. Your sick honestly